VfL Bochum visit Hertha BSC next Saturday. Coach Thomas Letsch talks about the game and his personnel at the start of the training week.

VfL Bochum’s chances of staying in the Bundesliga are close with two matchdays to go. In the guest game at the bottom of the table Hertha BSC on Saturday (3.30 p.m., RS-Liveticker), the Bochum team can take an important step towards staying in the league – or, with a win and matching results from the competition, even make it perfect ahead of time.

However, the Revierklub will probably have to do without Konstantinos Stafylidis at the weekend. The full-back is still suffering from problems in his shoulder and rib area, which he suffered in the win against FC Augsburg (3:2). On Tuesday, the Greek had to stop team training early.

“It’s nothing serious, but if he can’t move without pain, it’s difficult,” head coach Thomas Letsch explained after the session. “It doesn’t look so good.” That is also likely to be the case for Patrick Osterhage, who recently injured his thigh. The midfielder reeled off an individual programme on Tuesday. Whether Osterhage will be fit in time for the game in Berlin is questionable.

While Bochum can secure their place in the relegation zone in the capital, Hertha are dependent on a win. Only with six points from the last two games of the season can Hertha hope for a future in the top flight. “Everyone knows they have to win. You can speculate a lot on how they will perform,” Letsch said.

But the 54-year-old coach doesn’t want that at all. He only said: “We have studied Hertha and looked: What structure do they have, what strengths and where do we see our chances?” Letsch added that the performance of his own team would not change much compared to the Augsburg game.

For the Bochum side, the 3:2 win at home against FCA was the crowning glory of a perfect weekend. With Schalke losing and Stuttgart only playing for a draw, VfL climbed from 17th to the non-relegation spot of 15th. In preparation for the match, Bochum had also taken measures off the training pitch.

The team arranged to meet for a team evening. In addition, the chairman of the supervisory board Hans-Peter Villis gave a speech at the joint lunch with the team. “These are all relatively unspectacular things,” said Letsch in retrospect. Is there anything similar planned before the Hertha game? “We will not fall into actionism and do spectacular actions every day,” Letsch replied. “We have to focus on what is important.” And that is staying in the Bundesliga. (with gp)